Home Repair Glossary

A flapper alternative that lifts straight up like an elevator instead of tipping open. It takes a seal ring, not a flapper.

Food coloring in the tank tells you in 15 minutes whether water is sneaking into the bowl.

The part that refills the toilet tank after a flush and knows when to stop.

The rubber plug that holds water in the toilet tank until you flush. When it wears out, the toilet runs.

The tank's built-in emergency drain, so water never spills onto the bathroom floor.

The removable metal basket in a kitchen sink drain that catches food scraps, and the flange it sits in, which seals to the sink with plumber's putty.

The slippery gray gunk that grows wherever water sits. Chemicals only stun it. Wiping it out physically works.

A flexible cable you feed down the drain to grab the clog your fingers can't reach.

The replaceable insides of a faucet. When it drips, you swap this $10–$20 part, not the whole faucet.

The U-shaped bend under the sink that holds a splash of water to keep sewer smell out of the room.

The little rod behind the drain that makes the sink stopper go up and down.

The metal plug in the bathroom sink. Hair wraps around its base, and that mat is what slows the drain.

The little tap under the sink or behind the toilet that turns off water to just that one fixture.

Haze that's worn into the glass itself. No cleaner can remove damage that isn't sitting on the surface.

The disc that caps a shower head's flow by law. Usually blamed for weak showers, rarely guilty.

Water with dissolved minerals in it. When it dries, the minerals stay behind as white crust.

The valve that steps street water pressure down to something your pipes can live with.

The folded rubber ring around a front-loader's door. It is mold's favorite hiding spot in the whole machine.

The lint trap hiding behind the little panel at the bottom of the washer, the one everyone forgets exists.

A one-shot safety that permanently cuts power to the dryer heater when the air inside gets too hot, almost always because the vent is clogged.

The small hole inside a frost-free fridge that carries defrost meltwater to a pan underneath. When it clogs, water pools under the drawers.

The strip along the door's bottom edge that closes the gap over the threshold.

The metal rod a door actually swings on. The squeak lives right there, so that's where the grease goes.

A squeak is just two dry metal parts gripping and letting go hundreds of times a second.

The metal plate on the door frame with the hole the latch bolt drops into. When it and the bolt drift out of line, the door stops latching.

The squishy seal around a door frame that the closed door presses against, so outside air stays outside.

Fading the edges of a repair into the wall around it, so nobody can tell where the fix starts.

The slow-drying "mud" for big drywall jobs. Overkill for nail holes, where spackle wins.

Toothpaste-thick filler for nail holes: press it in, let it dry, sand it smooth, invisible.

An outdoor faucet whose actual valve sits a foot inside the warm wall, so the exposed part drains itself and can't freeze, as long as the hose is off.

The outlet with Test and Reset buttons that cuts power in a split second when electricity leaks where it should not, like through water or you.

The twist-on plastic cap that joins two or more wires inside an electrical box. The color tells you which wire sizes it fits.

The thin metal rod in a gas furnace burner flame that proves the burners lit. When it gets coated, the furnace lights and shuts off seconds later.

The 1–20 score on an air filter that says how fine a particle it catches. Higher catches more but can choke airflow.

The tiny black fly that drifts up from houseplant soil. The adults are harmless. The larvae in the wet soil eat roots.

A rubber ring that squishes between two parts to make them watertight.

The thin white tape you wrap around pipe threads so the joint doesn't weep. It fills gaps, it isn't glue.

The thick grease that keeps metal parts quiet for years, where WD-40 only manages days.